Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has initiated legal action against W3C, the parent company of Baanx and Monovate, and its CEO Garth Howat, in an effort to finalize the $175 million acquisition agreed upon in November of the previous year. The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, seeks to compel Howat to adhere to the obligations outlined in the November 24, 2025 Stock Purchase Agreement. Following the signing of the deal, W3C and Howat received $80 million in loans from Exodus, with Howat personally receiving $10 million, which he later claimed did not need to be repaid, as stated in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Howat and W3C are engaged in a deliberate attempt to evade completing the transaction, having made false declarations and backdated documents.
Additionally, they have purportedly dismissed key personnel and replaced them with their preferred candidates, despite being prohibited from doing so by the binding agreement. Howat has yet to respond to requests for comment. W3C's subsidiaries, Baanx and Monovate, were involved in the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, which collaborated with major players such as Mastercard and MetaMask. Exodus CEO and Co-founder JP Richardson stated, 'We have a binding agreement in place with W3C and expect it to be fully honored.
We are confident in our path forward and anticipate a swift resolution.'